Murray's Journey: Revelations

[Laraqua]

The post office boxes are in descending order and go from left to right so it takes him two sets of counting to find the right one. He puts the key in and twists it, opening it to reveal a handgun that reeks of gunpower as well as a folded up note. There's also a ticket in there to the Artaud Theatre: "Blessings Taken Unawares: One Man's Story."

[Mr. Handy]

The first thing Murray does is unfold the note and read it, holding it up to light coming from his clip-on flashlight.

[Laraqua]

"Can't go on.
The humiliation is too much.
I need my wife.
I can't imagine why she did this to me.
It's not fair."

[Mr. Handy]

That sounds like something my client would say, thinks Murray with a pang of guilt. I've got to find her, but I don't see how this helps me yet. Maybe the theater will have some more leads. I never did finish exploring that place, and this ticket has to be relevant somehow. He pockets the note and the ticket. Then he puts on his gloves and examines the gun, which seems to have been recently fired. He makes sure the safety is on and checks how many bullets it contains.

[Laraqua]

There is one bullet in the handgun sitting behind the trigger, so to speak, rather than lurking in the clip. And no, the safety isn't on. There are fine traces of gunpowder on the muzzle which still feels a little warm. Very recently fired.

[Mr. Handy]

Knowing that every bullet counts in this place, and that he's used several already with no replacements until now, Murray turns on the safety and pockets the gun. With nothing left for him here, he locks the empty box and pockets the key as well with the note and ticket. Then he checks his map and tries to identify his current location and the best route to get back to the Artaud Theater.

[Laraqua]

The map propbably won't be as much use as he initially thought. Only one side of the street is available to him, the other seems to move off at an odd angle at an intersection as though some great entity had unzipped all of the streets and then refastened the sides at random moments. There are shapes moving through the flickering red fluoro-lit semi darkness. He isn't alone here. There are other things hunting. He is utterly aware of that fact. Perhaps in the gaps between when the street lamps flicker on in the streets ahead he could pass them by and try to remain hidden within the darkness. Perhaps. Or perhaps he should find a trusty implement to help him deal with threats without expending his precious bullets. He may need those later on. Who can say?

A warm fetid breath of air is expelled from the pit below like from some fell god's throat, ruffling the hairs on his head. The other disturbing fact about the streets is that they do appear to be gently sloping down though it is difficult to say whether that is a fact or just some quirk of perception.

[Mr. Handy]

I'd better get indoors, pronto! thinks Murray as he puts the map away. He tries the post office door.

[Laraqua]

The door handle clatters a bit as he yanks on it but with a bit of elbow grease he manages to jerk it open, revealing a dusty and room with grimy shelves and grotty stained packages, parcels and envelopes littering the shelves. The door behind the counter creaks a little as it swings back and forth slightly. The cash register is broken. Someone has smashed it with a fire axe, leaving the axe behind. It reminds him of a similarly shattered cash register he had seen in a robbery he had once investigated when the police ruled it as suspicious and he was called in by the owners to clear their name - which he did. That was a happy ending, at least.

[Mr. Handy]

Murray shuts the front door behind him and locks it if possible. He still has the crowbar from the hospital which he had taken back from Craig, but the axe might be better at both opening doors that refuse to yield to his lockpicks and for fighting off the various monsters in this crazy place, so he exchanges the crowbar for it. Yoink! he thinks as he picks it up and hefts it. It's like this place is made out of my memories or something. Like a dream...or a nightmare. He peeks through the swinging door to see what's on the other side.

[Laraqua]

The doors were lockable once though not anymore. It appears that age and decay has put paid to that idea. Through the door behind the counter there's a dark passageway leading down, down, down, down with a series of trapezoidal niches in the walls which are wider on this side than the other side. They appear to have the occasional hole pierced through them. The passageway is eerily gloomy and the light from his flashlight doesn't penetrate much further than twelve feet. The corridor is certainly longer than that.

[Mr. Handy]

Well, there's only one way to find out what's in there, thinks Murray. He carefully ventures down the passage, trying to make as little noise as possible.

[Laraqua]

There is a dull whirr within the corridor like the sound of a reel of film playing out as he begins to descend the ramp-like passageway, passing those trapezoidal indentations with their round peep holes from which seem to emanate the only sources of light. It's a wan light akin to light escaping through the holes than any bulb within them. The ramp continues to stretch away before him when, unenbelievably, he starts to hear a phone ringing at the very bottom of the passage.

[Mr. Handy]

Murray quickens his pace, but he doesn't rush so much that he puts himself at too much risk. Somehow he knows that call is for him.

[Laraqua]

The ramp seems to descend for hours before finally flattening out into a small room with a big steel door that has a round puckered hole in the middle that appears filled with darkness. Two paintings flank the door. One shows a camera. The other shows his bedroom. A ringing telephone sits upon a tall occasional table in the corner of the room. The floor, walls and ceiling are of unpainted concrete. There's no light in here other than that released by his flashlight.

[Mr. Handy]

Murray leans his axe against the table to free his hand and snatches up the phone. "Hello?" he says into it.

[Laraqua]

Murray hears a distraught woman (Ash?) answer the call, "Why? Why, you jerk? Why'd you let me leave? Why didn't you just ... you just ... do what you were paid for? You took it halfway! You don't even have the right to judge."

[Mr. Handy]

OOC,Oops! :oops: I'm so sorry I hadn't realized you'd posted here before I left back in June. I'd been wondering why this game wasn't being updated, and now I see that it's because I forgot to post. I only noticed when I saw other posts being made here.

"I'm not here to judge you, Ash," says Murray. "God knows I've done some things I'm not proud of, and that's one of them. I'm here looking for you because your family needs you, more than you can imagine."

[Laraqua]

"My family? That's why I'm here! That's why this is all ... all happening. I just wanted it to go away. Why did you let it go away?"

[Mr. Handy]

"I don't really know," says Murray. "I guess I'm just a sucker for a cute toddler. How is it that you're here because of your family? Do you have family in Silent Hill too?"